A long line and small talk with a stranger—what could pair better? In fact, it was those two things that led me to a delightful conversation with, potentially, the real Mrs. Claus. Read more
Tales of Connection—Sharing Our “Mrs. Claus Moments”
Category: Big Thoughts
The Big Picture—What Stargazing Reveals About Our Lives
When humans look at the night sky, we feel wonder. A collective curiosity to better understand what’s out there. So, with telescopes, we try to pull the stars and planets to us.
It makes sense, right? The closer we get to something, the more we can learn about it and appreciate it.
So why does life seem to work in the opposite way? Why is it that the more we zoom in on life, the more easily we can let it pass unappreciated? Read more
The Case for You—40 Reasons You Matter
When you speak best through written words, like I do, special gifts tend to take that form too. So it makes sense that this year, “the year of 40,” I’ve begun a new tradition built on words.
Lists, in fact.
My best friend’s 40th gift? “40 Reasons Why You Rock.” And my hubby’s earned the title “Forty Reasons Why I Love You.”
So as I pondered my turn in the 40th birthday spotlight this coming Sunday, I thought about the forty things I’d include on my own list. And how that might make an interesting blog post.
But something was missing. Read more
Four Life Lessons from Camp Tuckaho
Camping’s a box I checked off my to-try list about ten years ago. And it’s been purposely absent from all of my lists since then.
I don’t get the whole camping thing. A walk in the woods? Yes. Dining al fresco? Definitely. Getting away from it all? Absolutely. But a community bathroom (or worse) and no bed? You lost me.
I’d successfully avoided a second experience until my daughter came along and with her, Girl Scouts—famous for cookies . . . and camping.
So the Friday evening before Mother’s Day, I drove her and another mom/daughter duo toward our destiny—Camp Tuckaho.
And here’s what I learned in my 24-hour reunion with the one activity I’d hoped to never do again: Read more
Redirect Your Life with One-Letter Shifts
Ever think about how the difference between one word and the next is often just a letter?
Me neither.
Except until the other day when I was searching online for St. Louis events and saw one appearing to be titled “Meditation Matters.”
“Awesome!” I thought, clicking on the link.
All that awesomeness ended when I realized the program targeted the senior population and was actually called “Medication Matters.”
Changing one little letter can catapult a word from your corner of the world to the opposite pole.
So why not apply this “one little letter” philosophy to propel ourselves in a direction we’d rather be heading? Read more
Reclaim & Release—Two Steps Towards Your Dreams
Last time it went missing, it left for a week. So when we realized yesterday at 8pm that my 6-year-old’s ninja turtle water bottle had begun another solo adventure—left behind after baseball practice—I headed to reclaim it.
The empty baseball diamond felt like the Field of Dreams set—my mind even started replaying the “If you build it . . .” line as I canvassed the outfield. The bottle lay, of course, in the last possible place I could look, but I eventually spotted its neon-green lid.
All alone on a cold metal bench.
Well, not completely alone. You see, on my search-and-rescue route I discovered a handful of baseballs, a tennis ball, a Gatorade bottle, and a purple jacket.
All left behind—the typical behavior of most kids that age.
But as I quietly walked back to my car, my shoes absorbing the evening dew, two thoughts began developing: Read more
How Lack Can Be Your Source of Abundance
Abundance—it’s a word linked to positive thoughts.
Like an abundance of good restaurants, of vacation time, of lifelong friendships.
But what about modern conveniences? Abundance of these is a positive thing, right? I’d always thought so, but one little incident’s left me questioning this belief.
It happened the other day in my kitchen with an unlikely source of inspiration—the water pitcher. Mine has the built-in filter that I replace after so many fills. A good thing, except that my current filter’s abominably slow. Like one drop every two seconds.
So as I watched it drip that day, an idea arrived that maybe instead of being here to annoy me this sluggish filter has actually given me three special gifts:
Survival Code or Compassion Code—Which Do You Follow?
Just for fun, let’s pretend we’re emperor penguins.
We’re hanging out on the Antarctic ice, looking cute, but freezing our feathers off. So what do we do? Well, humans would instinctively crowd together, so we decide to try that.
And pretty soon, we’re at the center of a massive penguin huddle, feeling much warmer.
But after a bit our neighbors wiggle away, with new penguins taking their places. This cycle repeats until our original buddies end up on the outer ring of the huddle and penguins from the perimeter get some time in the middle.1
We can’t believe it—they’re taking turns getting warm! Read more
Know Your Snowflake Type—A Personality Test
I hadn’t planned on writing about snowflakes, nor had I ever thought one’s personality might align with a snowflake type. But I couldn’t find the book passage I needed for my planned post, so I sat—blocked—at my laptop and looked outside.
Guess what I found?
A new blog post! A little rough around the edges and in the form of snowfall, but a beautiful idea just in need of a little polish.
So here it is…
When the temperature’s above freezing, a snowflake faces three short-term destinies: Read more
Stretching Christmas—Yea or Nay?
Stretching’s good for us, right? So, I’ve been thinking lately that maybe stretching Christmas might not be so bad either.
I used to have rules about this:
1. NO Christmas music until after Thanksgiving.
2. NO Christmas decorations until after Thanksgiving.
3. NO Christmas movies until after Thanksgiving.
But then it happened. Read more